Friday, May 14, 2010

[FEMA]

Homeland Security Threat Level: YELLOW (ELEVATED)

Significant National Weather

Midwest
A cold front moving slowly to the southeast will bring most of the weather activity to the lower parts of the Midwest. The eastern Ohio Valley into Kentucky will see the highest threat of thunderstorms; some of these thunderstorms will be strong to even severe, but most of the thunderstorms will be isolated. Some portions of southeast Ohio to northeast Kentucky could see over two inches of rain, possibly causing localized flooding.
NortheastÂ*
Rain will spread from Virginia through New York and into New England; some thunderstorms are possible. During the afternoon, a few of the thunderstorms across the mid-Atlantic region may become strong to severe.
West
A few thunderstorms are possible over the higher elevations of Utah and Wyoming; eastern New Mexico up to southern Colorado may also see some precipitation. In the afternoon, isolated thunderstorms are possible across the Cascades of Washington and Oregon.
SouthÂ*
While most of the deep South and the Southeast coast will be dry today, areas from western and central Texas to Arkansas will see locally heavy rain and thunderstorms. In the afternoon, strong to severe thunderstorms are likely from the Tennessee Valley to northern Georgia.

Central Plains & Mississippi Valley Tornado Outbreak

On May 10, 2010, a strong storm system moved across northern Oklahoma, south-central Kansas, western Missouri and northwest Arkansas bringing long-track tornadoes, baseball sized hail and damaging winds. Thirteen tornado touchdowns were reported in Kansas. Fourteen counties reported tornado activity during the evening, May 10, in Oklahoma. As of May 12, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma have assumed normal operations.
Federal Actions:
Joint Individual Assistance (IA) and Public Assistance (PA) Preliminary Damage Assessment teams are available as needed. There were no requests for Federal Assistance.
(FEMA RVI)
Severe Weather: Recovery- Mississippi Valley/Southeast Update:

Current Situation:
The majority of rivers and streams that were impacted by the storms occurring May 1-2, 2010, are now below flood stage.
Federal Actions:
FEMA NRCC is at Level III (Partial Activation).
FEMA Region IV RRCC is at Level III (Partial Activation) with ESFs 1,3,6,7,10, and 15. FEMA liaisons are deployed to the Emergency Operations Centers in Tennessee and Kentucky. Joint IA and PA Preliminary Damage Assessments are ongoing in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi. FEMA Logistics transported 5.8 million liters of water and 1.1 million meals to Tennessee. There are nine Disaster Recovery Centers and 23 Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers in operation in Tennessee with additional facilities in Ken. And Miss. Joint Field Offices and Area Field Offices are being established in the region.
Mississippi Canyon 252 Update:

Unified Command / USCG Response:
Current Situation and Operations
Drilling operations for the relief well remain delayed until further testing of the riser and blow out preventer is conducted. All shipping channels and ports remain open in the Gulf Coast region. Cleaning stations were established offshore and in the Mississippi River to remove oil from ship hulls. British Petroleum, Houston continues researching 4 different options (containment, Blowout Preventer, top kill, and relief wells) to contain the source leak. Thus far, 475,957 gallons of surface dispersants and 28,709 gallons of subsea dispersants have been applied to the area but all dispersant operations are now suspended pending an operational audit. More than 1.5 million feet of boom were deployed and skimming and booming operations will continue as weather permits. Thirteen staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines: 3 in Alabama, 2 in Florida, 5 in Louisiana and 3 in Mississippi. Air monitoring was conducted between Venice, LA and Panama City, FL to address public concerns for oil vapors but no oil vapors were detected.
Environmental Impacts
Recreational and commercial fishing areas remain closed in impacted areas of the Gulf of Mexico. Oil has been confirmed on Chandeleur and Free Mason Islands in wetlands and beaches. Skimmers have been deployed to Chandeleur Islands and the Rigolets (an 8 mile long straight in Louisiana). Four Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Teams (SCAT) were deployed to survey shorelines in the Gulf Coast region but were unable to fly to the Chandeleur Islands due to weather. Twenty-five National Wildlife Refugees adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico have potential for impacts from the oil spill. U.S. Coast Guard reported aviation patrol discovered possible shoreline impact on Whiskey Island, La. and Orange Beach, Ala. U.S. Coast Guard reports oil and tar is onshore at Gulf Shores, Ala. and Blind Bay, La. and the cleanup is ongoing. Tar balls were confirmed along a two mile stretch of beach at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge, Ala. and tar patties were reported on Galveston Island, Texas and Holly Beach, La. and sampling was conducted to verify the source.
(DHS SITREP, USCG)
Federal Actions
The lead federal agencies responding to the incident are the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Department of Interior.
(DHS SITREP, USCG)
Space Shuttle Mission: STS-132

Â*
Space shuttle Atlantis is embarking on its final planned mission on Friday at 2:22 p.m. EDT. During the 12-day flight, the six astronauts on the Atlantis will fly to the International Space Station and leave behind a Russian Mini Research Module, a set of batteries for the station's truss and dish antenna, along with other replacement parts. Three spacewalks are planned to stage spare components outside the station, including six spare batteries, a Ku-band antenna and spare parts for the Canadian Dextre robotic arm. The Russian-built Mini Research Module-1 (MRM-1) to be delivered is also known as Rassvet, or dawn, in Russian. The module will be permanently attached to the station and will provide additional storage space and a new docking port for Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. The MRM-1 will also carry important hardware on its exterior including a radiator, airlock and a European robotic arm. Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG)

No activity.(FEMA HQ) Tropical Weather Outlook

The Eastern Pacific Hurricane Season begins May 15 and will run through November 30. The National Hurricane Center announced earlier this year that this season they will issue watches and warnings for impacts from tropical cyclone activity 12 hours earlier than in previous years. This means Tropical Storm Watches will be issued when tropical storm conditions are possible within 48 hours and Tropical Storm Warnings will be issued when those conditions are possible within 36 hours. Similar time frames will be used for Hurricane Watches and Hurricane Warnings.Â* For further details regarding other changes and experimental products please refer toÂ*www.nhc.noaa.gov.
(NOAA, NWS, NHC, CPHC JTWC)

Earthquake Activity

On May 13, 2010, at 9:09 p.m. EDT, a magnitude 4.1 aftershock occurred 90 miles west of Gold Beach, OR at a depth of 6 miles in approximately the same location as the magnitude 5.1 earthquake that occurred at 1:35 a.m. EDT that morning. There were no reports of damage or injury or of a tsunami being generated.(USGS)Â*
Preliminary Damage Assessments

No new activity (FEMA HQ)
Wildfire Update

National Preparedness Level 1
National Fire Activity as of Thursday, May 13, 2010:Â*
â¢Â*Initial attack activity: Light (85 new fires), New large fires:Â* 1, Large fires contained: 2
â¢Â*Uncontained large fires: 3, States affected: FL, AL, AZÂ* and AKÂ*(NIFC)
Disaster Declaration Activity

On May 13, 2010, the President declared a major disaster declaration for South Dakota (FEMA-1914-DR) as a result of a severeÂ*snow stormÂ*on April 2, 2010. The declaration provides Public Assistance for three counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide. Nancy M. Casper will be the Federal Coordinating Officer for this recovery.
On May 13, 2010, the President declared a major disaster declaration for South Dakota (FEMA-1915-DR) as a result of flooding onÂ*MarchÂ*10 and continuing. The declaration provides Public Assistance for 30 counties and Hazard Mitigation statewide. Nancy M. Casper will be the Federal Coordinating Officer for this recovery.
Amendment No. 1 to FEMA-3309-EM-ND closes the incident period effective April 30, 2010.


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